Lessons From The Auschwitz Seminar

An Interview with IB teacher Mr. Arnold and IB Seniors

By Madeline Meyer

 

On Tuesday, March 30th, IB seniors attended a 3-hour virtual field trip to Auschwitz through Zoom with the collaboration of the Jewish Student Union of Winter Park, hosted by Dr. Jerzy Wójcik through the Holocaust Memorial Partnership. The experience was organized with the help of Mr. Arnold, who teaches AP European History and IB Global Politics. With Dr. Wójcik's guidance, we had the opportunity to participate in a conversation that is so crucial but often avoided. After the guided tour, students and teachers listened to Holocaust survivor Peter Feigl share his recollection of the loss of his parents and childhood under the Nazi regime. 

​

Shortly after the field trip, I sought Mr. Arnold’s opinion about the growing concern for younger generations to acknowledge and understand the Holocaust. With the hope that the tour and discussion had sparked new internal and external reflection, I asked the same questions to IB seniors Talya Cohen, Jordan Gebaide, Mason Bui, and Alicia Sprague. Their responses displayed a level of understanding and compassion fostered by the virtual experience, but some students' connections extended far beyond the field trip. Talya descends from three Holocaust survivors: “I know firsthand the psychological effects the Holocaust has had on not only my grandparents, but also on my parents and myself,” she shares. “My grandfather, to this day, still refuses to throw out moldy bread, the only food he had access to during the war. My parents refuse to travel anywhere without their passports for fear that something will happen that will no longer make this country safe for Jews.” Jordan’s personal tie to the tragedy affects his perspective of the trip as well. “Had [my grandmother] been born in Europe, and not America, it is likely that she and her family would have been victims of the Holocaust, which makes learning about the Holocaust even graver for a Jewish student like myself,” he says. 

​

It is so crucial to learn about the Holocaust in contemporary times because the effects of the Holocaust are, undeniably, still seen today in people’s beliefs and behavior. “Not only were atrocities carried out in Auschwitz, but businesses actually profited off of the killing of innocent people,” Talya notes. “Businesses that are still in operation today.” The virtual experience was a reminder of the necessity not only to remember but to understand the Holocaust; while it is imperative to learn the story of how the genocide unfolded, it is even more important to comprehend and reckon with the lessons learned from the Holocaust. “The story of Auschwitz is not only a story of hatred but also a story of caution,” says IB senior Mason Bui. “With the current social climate, especially in the United States, it seems as if we’re still choosing to act on fear and insecurity.” Mr. Arnold provides a similar warning, acknowledging that “it has been 75 years since World War II ended, but hate crimes are still, unfortunately, a major problem that we are currently dealing with.” 

​

When teaching a part of history in which people successfully alienated and devastated a group of people for unjustifiable, sometimes unlisted reasons, it is crucial to acknowledge the tragedy's human aspect. As Dr. Wójcik guided us through Auschwitz, he described the structures, the perpetrators, and the victims with a particular layer of honest, candid detail that provoked an unexpected visceral reaction. The descriptions were painfully human and intensely personal. After the tour, Holocaust survivor Peter Feigl dedicated his time to share the story of his childhood plundered by war and grief, and the same personal aspect — the same humanity — returned. 

​

“Hearing from a Holocaust survivor brings reality to an atrocity that does not seem like it belongs in our world,” Talya explains. Learning about the Holocaust strictly through a textbook is severely limiting in students’ ability to make personal connections. “The effectiveness of education is only as great as the ability for younger generations to make connections with real life,” says Mason. Jordan adds to this thought, sharing, “Touring the camps in color through virtual field trips enables us to acknowledge that the Holocaust happened in real places to real people, not just in history books.” Moreover, Mr. Arnold believes that listening to the experience of Holocaust survivors is “far more impactful” than simply reading from a history textbook. This is where the importance in honest teaching lies. “If unacceptable historical events, like the Holocaust, are not taught with respect, solemnity, and seriousness,” Talya expresses, “the students will not treat it as such. And, at that point, it is worse than if it is forgotten.”

 

The story of Peter’s long escape was mournful and, at times, seemed hopeless, but the selflessness of his protectors along the way instilled in him the strength to carry on. Mr. Arnold hopes that the virtual seminar, including Peter’s experience, will encourage students to self-reflect. “We all need to be tolerant, empathetic, and courageous enough to call out racism and hatred in our own community when we see it,” says Mr. Arnold. Alicia explains that learning about the Holocaust promotes necessary awareness, teaching us to “[pay] attention to signs that could potentially lead to a similar event.” Those who intervened to help Peter were people who did the right thing not for money or for praise, but purely because they felt that stepping forward was the only choice. Peter emphasized the need for us to do the right thing, and to remember that we must never give in to the comfort of remaining a bystander if we witness something we know, deep down, to be wrong.